1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to acoustical musical instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to drums formed as a multi-panel polygon. Still more particularly, the drums are fabricated from a plurality of flat pieces of glass that are joined together. The musical instruments of the present invention provide functional, audio, and aesthetic improvements over instruments known in the art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Musical instruments can be broadly divided into percussion, string, and wind instruments. The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drum head or drum skin, that is stretched over the drum shell and struck, either directly with the musician's hands, or with a drumstick or brushes, to produce sound. Drums are the oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments in the world, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.
Often, several drums are arranged together to create a drum kit. Within the drum kit, the snare drum is often considered to be the most important instrument, because of the unique sound created and the fact that most beats are based around the timing of the snare drum. With that in mind, it is crucial that the sound of the snare drum stand out from the other drums played. Snare drums are also often played on their own.
The snare drum is a drum with two drum heads, with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across one of the drum heads, typically the bottom (or resonance) drum head. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom (internal) side of the top (batter) drum head to make a “brighter” sound, and the Brazilian caixa commonly has snares on the top of the upper drum head. Snare drums will often have a strainer on one side and a butt plate on the other to hold the snare wires to the drum head. Snare tension is controlled with a screw on the strainer. A strainer may also have a throw-off lever to deactivate and move the snares away from the drum head in order to achieve a different sound.
Previously, drum shells have been fabricated from many different materials, such as wood, metal, carbon fiber, or plastic resins. Drum shells are invariably cylindrical, with an opening over which a drum head is stretched. The drum head is placed over the opening of the drum, which in turn is held onto the shell by a counter-hoop or rim, which will be referred to herein as the hoop. There are typically two hoops for a snare drum, for example, a first one to releasably retain a first drum head to a first perimeter of the drum shell, and a second one to releasably retain a second drum head to an opposing second perimeter of the drum shell. The hoop is releasably retained to the drum shell by means of a number of tuning screws called tension rods which screw into lugs placed evenly around the perimeter of the shell. The head's tension can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the rods. Many such drums have six to ten tension rods.
The sound of a drum depends on several variables, including shape, size and thickness of its shell, materials from which the shell is made, counter-hoop material, type of drum head used and tension applied to it, position of the drum, location, and the velocity and angle at which the head is struck.
Although drums known in the art are functional, problems do occur. For example, wooden drums may be subject to deterioration as a result of exposure to environmental dampness. When this occurs, the tones produced will vary and render the drum unsatisfactory for further use. Materials that may be required to create a desired sound, such as a particularly dense wood, may be unworkable into the requisite cylindrical drum shell. Similarly, very thick metal may result in a desired sound, but the drum would be largely unusable due to weight.
As such, it is clear there exists a continuing need in the art for improved drum shells. Furthermore, there is an on-going need in the musical community to create new sounds. In that regard, there exists in the musical world acoustical instruments that are intentionally designed without flat reverberation surfaces for the apparent purpose of enhancing sound quality. In particular, prior to the present invention, it has been the generally held belief that acoustical instruments should not include flat reverberation surfaces. The present inventors have determined that the introduction of flat surfaces to acoustical instruments for the purpose of generating distinct sounds is of interest.